Agriculture & Energy Advisor, Côte d'Ivoire

Focus of the Role

Power Africa is an initiative that brings together 12 United States Government agencies to leverage large-scale resources and expertise of the private and public sector, to expand access to power across Sub-Saharan Africa.

The initiative aims to increase installed power capacity by 30,000 MW, to create 60 million new electricity connections to households and businesses, and to support the development of a strong enabling environment for the power sector.

TBI, in coordination with United States Agency for International Development (USAID), implements the Power Africa Senior Advisors Group (SAG) Program to support effective government leadership in Power Africa partner countries to increase the availability of, and access to, power.

SAG deploys Energy Advisors embedded in local institutions (e.g. Ministries of Energy, Utilities, Rural Electrification Agencies, and Regulatory Authorities) for assignments of 2-4 years typically. The advisors assist sector leaders to make improvements on strategy, planning and policy implementation. 

The Institute is looking for an Energy & Agriculture Advisor to support the Desert to Power Initiative (DtP), a programme launched by the African Development Bank (AfDB) to untap the solar power potential in the Sahel.

Key Responsibilities

­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­The Energy Advisors will:

• Develop a policy framework that will allow the SAG, its advisors, DtP and the government counterparts to identify, plan and delivery projects at the intersection of the energy, water and agribusiness sectors in the Sahel
• Identify and engage with private companies, NGOs, research centres and other knowledge-based organizations to help deliver advisory services with maximum impact on the energy access for agriculture and agro processing sectors
• Provide strategic, technical and economic advice of the highest quality and with political acumen to  national government leaders (directly or through the SAG embedded advisors) as they implement reforms and projects on energy access for agriculture and agro processing sectors. This might include analysing, challenging, and drafting strategies / policies / laws and project concepts
• Be the liaison between the DtP task force, the AfDB agriculture business unit and SAG and drive a productive collaboration around the intersection of energy and agriculture
• Support the implementation of flagship projects with the Desert to Power program that are targeted toward energy solutions for agriculture and agro processing investments
• Liaise the DtP Initiative with the ECOWAS Regional Centre for Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency (ECREEE) and monitor the regional off-grid program that ECREE is leading within the DtP initiative
• Advise Power Africa and the AfDB’s Desert-to-Power task force, as well as other development partners, as they identify how they can best support national governments advance projects on energy access for agriculture and agro processing sector. This will involve providing timely analysis and acting as a point of coordination and expertise
• Identify areas where direct engagement at political level is required and coordinate these engagements in collaboration with the Chief of Party and Deputy Chief of Party – Technical Lead
• Develop and strengthen TBI’s relevance and value for government leaders in the policy intersection of energy and agriculture
• Produce  knowledge outputs for internal and external dissemination ( reports, op-eds, Power Point presentations, etc.)
• Proactively identify risks and issues affecting workstream delivery and promptly communicate upwards with options for solutions
• Support scoping for new programming and business development, as needed

Person Specification

This role can be suitable for an energy specialist with understanding of rural economic development or for an agribusiness specialist with understanding of electrification issues. In both cases, applicants should have:

• At least 10 years of experience in development economics
• Proven ability to articulate technical expertise with analytical and communication skills to produce high quality advisory deliverables
• Capacity to analyze a business plan and comment on its strategic and financial implications
• Familiarity with the main challenges of economic development of rural areas of Sub-Saharan countries
• Strong computer skills, and specifically on the use of MS Office package
• Political acumen to navigate in complex public sector environments and ability to best position the SAG Program
• Work collaboratively with colleagues and perform other duties as reasonably required to achieve the goals of the country and program teams
• Fluency in French and English is required.

As regards  the required technical skills, priority will be give to candidates who possess some or all of the following:

• A good understanding of the power sector structures, systems, and dynamics, ideally  inSub-Saharan Africa
• An understanding of off-grid electrification and more specifically of the financial challenges and opportunities in this space (e.g. results-based financing, access funds, etc.)
• A good understanding of the agri-business and water management sectors in developing countries

About The Institute

The Tony Blair Institute (TBI) is a mission-driven not for profit organisation. We exist to equip political leaders and governments to build open, inclusive and prosperous societies. We work hard, every day, to make a difference.

When governments work well they are able to create economic and social change in a way that promotes fairness, social justice and opportunity. We work relentlessly to support leader and governments with the challenges they face. Giving them practical solutions and actionable insights, that once implemented, can be transformative for their people.

We do this within two connected divisions:

Government Advisory

Our Government Advisory teams work directly with political leaders and governments around the world to implement reforms that improve the lives of their citizens. It has both non-profit partners and a client base and its outputs cover a range of disciplines and projects across countries in Africa, the Middle East, Eastern Europe and South Asia.

Policy Futures

Our Policy Futures work encompasses three broad areas:

• Renewing the Centre: developing a bold and innovative domestic policy programme to help renew the centre ground of British politics;
• Tech and Public Policy: exploring the policy challenges and opportunities presented by the technological revolution; and
• Extremism Policy Unit: creating solutions designed to tackle the threat of extremist ideologies in the UK and around the world.

As an organisation the core beliefs we all embrace are:

• Open and Progressive: you’ll believe in the value of teamwork
• Bold and Pragmatic: you’ll approach everything you do with integrity and authenticity
• Optimistic Changemakers: you’ll be focused on results